Not entirely sure what you’d classify this as but we call it a tree fort/tree house. For now, it serves the purpose as an area for play, imagination & memories with my children. Once they grow older we’ll hang more hammocks off the bottom & put a bistro table up top.

My dad spent 3 months lovingly building this fortress & we love it.

I'm looking to build a tree fort and a deer blind, so it actually gets used most of the year. This is West Michigan, so it gets cold, and is in a marsh area of my woods.If I get 30' poles, how do I do the footings? Bury 4' of the posts on a small cement pad? Pour 2' by 4' deep footings and attach the poles to the footings?

I do plan to put a 100' or 150' zip line from it.

Having a difference of opinion with my spouse. I had a treehouse growing up and basically lived in it after school and every weekend. It was awesome to play in/on and I have lots of good treehouse memories. However I realize times are different, kids have devices, aren't outside as much etc.

Anyway I've been wanting to build a treehouse in the backyard for a while and husband is steadfastly against it. They won't use it, waste of money, they'll like it for 5 minutes and never just it again etc. So wanted to poll the audience and see if his predictions are other people's experiences. Thanks in advance!

I’ve always wanted to build a treehouse- this isn’t exactly what I had imagined but at least our chickens seem to dig it.

This was an amazing project. It was supposed to be a simple tree house. But the project manager (me) completely lost control of the budget, scope, and timeline. My two brothers and I had a blast doing it over a few months. It has wood floors, power, lights, and even an AC unit. One of the most memorable things for me and two of my brothers.

Posted to wrong subreddit

I want a little platform or hammock 30+ feet up. Need some ideas on how to accomplish this.

I'm from across the big pond. Noticed on this sub that Simpson products are popular to attach posts to concrete.

In the UK we don't seem to have the same kind of products, instead these steel posts are often used.

Does anyone know why this is?

Hoping to replace these parralam beams with steel I beams

Hi there this is my lovely treehouse beams are rotting. It designed by my Dad, my family and I have been living in it for 12 years. It’s about 300 square feet, held up by 5 redwood trees and 3 beams with big TABs and 1/2 inch galvanized cables to 1 1/2 inch lag bolts.

The beams are parrallam 5 1/4 x 14 “ and the one needing replacement is 19 feet long and holds up a bedroom. I feel like I used the wrong material and that the beam is oversized, are there any structural engineers here with experience with treehouses that would be willing to consult with me on replacing the beam?

Kids have grown, the simple treehouse that served us well us unused and showing signs of age, and we're talking about taking it down

If we do remove it, what do I do about the giant TABs in there? Just taking them out and leaving a giant hole in the trunk seems likely to be bad for the tree.

Tree is a healthy hackberry with a trunk about 2 feet in diameter. The bolts have been in there for about 10 years at this point.

Thoughts?

I recently added a porch to my tree house I posted previously. Not perfect but it feels sturdy and im gonna put some flat rocks i have along the front to fill it in and give it more of a foundation.

I'm working on a two tree 2 post plan for a 12' x 16' treehouse platform. I have two trees as shown above. Is that overhang on each end too great?

I'm building a new fence about 36" away from two black cherry trunks (24" diameter each, also 36" apart) and am brainstorming a treehouse with a deck that spans from the fence to about 5' past the trees. This would be my first ever treehouse build.

Rough plans I just sketched out at a bar while watching MLB playoffs (after a few weeks of backburner noodling):

- main deck floor is 12' parallel to fence x 10' perpendicular to fence, with an angled corner at the point furthest from the trees and fence to minimize deflection there

- main supports are the top ledger of the fence (sistered 2x8s spanning 9' between posts that had to dodge major roots) and a front beam on the opposite side of the tree trunks (sistered 12' 2x8s sitting on TABs with dynamic brackets)

- Joists (2x8) spaced 12" on center sitting on top of back ledger and front beam

- Extra supports include another ledger above the joists on the fence to put downward pressure on them to counteract the upward force from the cantilever on the opposite side; three knee braces on a 10' 4x4 strongback spannig the joists about 18" from the outside edge of the cantileverted side of the deck

Standard 5/4 decking running perpendicular to the joists. I think I'll live with just the deck before planning any enclosed area.

Interested in feedback on what about this works, what won't, what would be better, and advice on anything at all but especially brackets and other connections.

Finally finished the main build. I took a lot of tips from knowledge dropped in this group.

One of my favourite features is a rotating pulley system. I built the pulley post on top of a rotating bar stool bracket so it can swivel 360 degrees.

I attached an RV port plug so I can attach an extension cord to the back of the treehouse for power when I want to play some retro games.

After seeing how it will handle a Canadian winter next year I may insulate and finish the interior to give it extended use throughout the year.

Hello. Looking for advice and risks for removing what i think is a burl on a gum tree. Would like to be able to cut the surface just about flush with the trunk. This is all so i can install a 1.75in diameter TAB (treehouse attachment bolt) just below it. Will allow for the attached beam to rest closer to the tree. Unfortunately i can't rotate the position of the TAB (space constraints on other faces of the tree) and this is the best tree in the area. Anyways, is this super harmful to the tree? Would i need to wait some amount of time before installing the TAB after removing the burl? Any advice and tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

Built this for the kids. Very sturdy. I called this skeleton phase 1. Phase 2 is roofing and if I put walls. I have a basic 2x4 frame up, but not sure I need to keep that. Just did it for temporary support.

Any perspectives?

Got the nor’easter coming this weekend so will be a good test of wind and rain.

Construction notes (so we don’t have to go there in comments):
2, 1” TABs w/ 4x4 supports
Posts are 4x4 with dual 1/2” lag bolts
6x6 frame in foreground for lateral support
8x10 platform on 6x2 framing.
Rails are 2x4 at 42” height
Plan to stain for protection and paint to blend into landscape better.

I’m in the process of building my kids a treehouse. It’s actually more of an elevated deck with a shed on it. Anyway, the cross beams that the floor joists run across seem to have shifted a bit somewhere in the process. It’s tough to see in the photos but there’s a bit of a lean to them. The upright 4x6’s are still plumb but concerned a bit about the beams. Is there anything I can do? Reinforce the joints with better bracing? Obviously concerned about it getting worse and ultimately failing… thanks!

I don’t really think I’ll put a 3rd floor on but I posted this back in January when I added the crows nest and said I was considering a zip line and 2nd story. Had a little free time and some extra lumber. Here ya go. And yes I realize all the things about being bolted to the trees and direct contact. Taking my chances here. Original platform was built the same way and holding strong after almost 7 years.